Duplex sleeve pallet



Feb. 26, 1957 c. w. ALEXANDER 2,783,011

DUPLEX SLEEVE PALLEm Filed Nov. 2:, 1954 14 T roRNEy.

DUPLEX SLEEVE PALLET Charles W. Alexander, Long Beach, Calif. Application November 23, 1954, Serial No. 470,593 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-120) This invention relates to a duplex sleeve pallet wherein a channel shaped basal unit is combined with a reinforcing superstructure or upper unit which occupies the channel of said basal unit and is secured within said channel in such a manner that the two units combine to produce a very strong, serviceable sleeve pallet, capable of being used in many ways, but more particularly intended to be used to support heavy articles while being picked up and moved about by lift trucks.

The form retaining sheet material of which the device is constructed may be either of a fibrous or metallic character, it being an object of the invention to contour and interfit co-operating units of sheet material in such a manner that they will so efiiciently brace and reinforce each other that, even though made of paper products, they will safely support heavy articles.

By this invention there is provided, for the use of fork lift trucks, a tubular pallet structure sufiiciently strong to afford the weight resisting capacity required, without the use of any internal bracing means of a kind that would obstruct the insertion of a fork portion of a fork lift truck.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, illustrative of a preferred, reduced to practice embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the device in use, broken lines delineating a load supported thereby in readiness to be lifted and transported by the truck shown.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the truck being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a large scale, perspective view of one of the pallets, a portion of said pallet being broken out to show more clearly its interior structure, and to shorten the view.

Referring in detail to the drawing, in practice, usually two twin pallets 5 and 6 will be provided, said pallets being superimposed upon a supporting surface 7 in the parallel, spaced apart relation to each other as shown in Fig. 2 to have placed upon them a load 8 to be lifted and transported by a truck 9.

The typical pallet 5 (or 6), best shown in Fig. 3, comprises a basal, channel shaped, floor supported unit 15 and an upper unit 16 contoured and dimensioned to fit into and fill the channel of said basal unit. Said basal unit consists of a single, elongated, rectangular strip of relatively heavy press board paper, or it may be made of a denser, more rigid sheet material. Said basal unit has a flat midwidth, bottom wall 17 to be superimposed upon a floor or other supporting surface. Continuous with each side edge portion of said bottom wall the sheet material is bent, as viewed in cross section, into an inverted V-shape, thus forming an inclined outer wall 19 at one side of the resulting triangular structure, and an inclined inner wall 20 at the opposite side of said triangular structure. Beyond each of said inner inclined iCQ walls the sheet material is continued as a horizontal terminal wall 23, these walls abutting at 24.

The sheet material which forms said upper unit 16 comprises a flat, horizontal top wall portion 30, the upper surface of which is substantially on a level with the apices of the aforesaid triangular side portions of the lower unit 15. Along each side edgesaid wall portion 30 is continued downwardly and inwardly as a wall portion 31 which abuts flatwise against the aforesaid wall portion 20 at its side of the pallet. Along the lower edge of each of the wall portions 31 the sheet material continues horizontally toward the midwidth ofthe pallet to form a wall portion 32, these basal wall portions overlapping the aforesaid bottom wall portion 17 and abutting each other along a line 33 which may register with the aforesaid meeting line 24.

When the pallet is made of a paper product all the overlapping sheet wall portions thereof are glued to each other, but if sheet metal is used overlapping surface portions are riveted, brazed or welded to each other.

Each pallet is so dimensioned as to provide in the upper unit thereof an open-ended tube or channel sufficiently large readily to admit a tongue or lifting arm 40 of the truck 41.

The basal unit 15 may be said to comprise a horizontal bottom wall portion and an overlying horizontal upper wall portion, said upper wall portion being shown in the drawing as comprising the two long edge portions of a single sheet of material which abut at the line 33, but whether or not the side edge portions of the sheet terminate at said line the basal unit 15 should be constructed with a bottom wall portion having along each side an edge portion which projects considerably beyond the adjacent edge of the horizontal upper wall portion superimposed thereon so that there will be room for providing in said bottom wall portion, along each side of the pallet the inverted V-shaped bracing structure which has been described.

Preferably the angularly bent portions of the sheet material of the pallet are symmetrically contoured as seen in cross section, the wall of the hollow upper unit 16 being shaped as an isosceles trapezoid. This trapezoidal structure combines with the side sleeves shaped as isosceles triangles to produce an eflicient weight sustaining means even when the article is made of press board paper.

For convenience in describing and in claiming the invention, position indicating terms such as upper and lower have been used, but it is to be understood that such terms are limiting only to the extent of defining the relation of the different parts of the pallet to each other, irrespective of the position of the pallet considered as a whole.

I claim:

1. In a pallet structure of the kind described, an elongated basal unit of form retaining sheet material, said unit comprising an elongated, rectangular fioor member with a flat bottom wall portion to overlie a horizontal supporting surface, and an upper wall portion resting fiatwise upon said bottom wall portion and extending longitudinally therealong, each side of said bottom wall portion having a side edge portion which projects beyond the adjacent side edge of said upper wall portion, said projecting edge portions of said bottom wall portion each being a sleeve triangular in cross section with an upper part of an inverted V-shape as viewed in cross section, thus producing a channel between said V-shapes; and an elongated hollow upper unit comprising a tube of form retaining sheet material contoured as an isosceles trapezoid as viewed in cross section, said upper unit being fitted snugly within said channel of said lower unit and occupying substantially the entire cross section of said channel, the apices of said inverted V-shapes of said basal unit being on substantially the same level as the upper surface of said upper unit, the surface portions of said units being secured to each other wherever they overlap.

2. In a pallet structure of the kind described, a basal unit comprising a flat basal sheet to overlie a horizontal supporting surface and a superstructure consisting of integral parts of the same sheet, said superstructure comprising as viewed in cross section a strip of the sheet material of an inverted V-shape overlying and extending along each side edge portion of said flat basal sheet,

thus producing a channel between said V-shapes the inner sides of said V-shaped strips having horizontal inward continuations extended toward the midwidth of said basal sheet and overlapping said basal sheet in a ilatwise manner; and an elongated hollow upper unit comprising a tube of form retaining sheet material which is contoured as an isosceles trapezoid as viewed in cross section, said upper unit being fitted snugly within the channel of said lower unit and occupying substantially the entire cross section of said channel, so that the apices of the inverted V-shapes of said basal unit are on substantially the same level as the upper surface of said upper unit, the surface portions of the sheet material being secured to each other throughout the pallet wherever they overlap.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,601,957 Gaylord Oct. 5, 1926 1,852,832 Beaman Apr. 5, 1932 2,240,024 Stone et a1. Apr. 29, 194i 2,432,849 Adams et al. Dec. 16, 1947 2,444,183 Cahners June 29, 1948 2,691,500 Baumann Oct. 12, 1954 

